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SummerSlam (2019)
SummerSlam (2019) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brands. It took place on August 11, 2019, at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the thirty-second event under the SummerSlam chronology and the second event to be held at this particular venue (the other being the 2004 event). Twelve matches were contested at the event, including three on the pre-show. In the main event, Seth Rollins defeated Brock Lesnar to win the Universal Championship for a second time. In other prominent matches, Bray Wyatt in his new "Fiend" persona defeated Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens defeated Shane McMahon to keep his job, Kofi Kingston fought Randy Orton to a double countout to retain the WWE Championship, and Goldberg defeated Dolph Ziggler. Storylines The show will include matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live. At WrestleMania 35, Seth Rollins defeated Brock Lesnar to win the Universal Championship. Lesnar then disappeared from television for several weeks before reemerging at Money in the Bank as an unannounced entrant in the namesake ladder match and won, granting him a match for a world championship of his choice at anytime within the next year. After teasing some cash-ins, Lesnar finally cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at Extreme Rules and won back the Universal Championship right after Rollins had just retained the title. On the following night's Raw, Rollins won a cross-brand 10-man battle royal to earn a rematch against Lesnar at SummerSlam. On the July 15 episode of Raw, Naomi, Natalya, Alexa Bliss, and wild card guest Carmella competed in a fatal four-way elimination match to determine the number one contender against Becky Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship at SummerSlam. Natalya won by last eliminating Bliss by submission. On the July 16 episode of SmackDown, after SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley and Ember Moon defeated Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville in a tag team match in which Moon scored the pin, Bayley named Moon the number one contender for her title at SummerSlam. During the summer of 2019, Kevin Owens became furious with Shane McMahon due to the latter taking up more and more screen time each week from other wrestlers and exerting even more authority, which was in contradiction to what The McMahon Family (Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Shane McMahon, and Triple H) had promised several months prior. Despite Shane's attempts to ban Owens from SmackDown, Owens would nevertheless show up and attack Shane at opportune moments. During Raw Reunion on July 22, Owens challenged Shane to a match at SummerSlam and said he would quit the WWE if he were to lose, and Shane accepted. On the July 23 episode of SmackDown, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston called out Randy Orton, stating he wanted to face him at SummerSlam with his title on the line. Kingston referenced their past feud in 2009 when Kingston had defeated Orton, but Orton used his influence to get in the main event scene whereas Kingston remained in the mid-card. Orton said he was right that he held Kingston back and accepted Kingston's challenge. Following the Superstar Shake-up in April, Bray Wyatt, who had been on hiatus since the previous summer, began appearing as an eerie children's entertainer in pre-taped segments called Fire Fly Funhouse. He eventually revealed a new sinister alternate persona called "The Fiend". After wild card guest Finn Bálor's match on the July 15 episode of Raw, the lights went out. Wyatt then appeared dressed as "The Fiend" and attacked Bálor. The following week on SmackDown, Bálor challenged Wyatt to a match at SummerSlam. Wyatt appeared on the screen in the funhouse. He said that he was a fan of Bálor but "The Fiend" was not and that "The Fiend" accepted the challenge. At Extreme Rules, AJ Styles defeated Ricochet to win the United States Championship thanks to help from his O.C. (Original Club) teammates, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. On the July 29 episode of Raw, Ricochet won a gauntlet match, defeating Rey Mysterio, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, and Andrade, to earn a rematch for the title at SummerSlam. On the July 23 episode of SmackDown, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels was a guest on "Miz TV". The segment was interrupted by Dolph Ziggler, who insulted Michaels. The Miz intervened and forced Ziggler to leave, only for Michaels to pull him back. As Ziggler attempted to attack Michaels, he avoided Ziggler, and Ziggler instead attacked Miz. Ziggler then performed a superkick on Michaels. The following week, a match between Miz and Ziggler was scheduled for SummerSlam. During the contract signing on the August 5 episode of Raw, Miz revealed that their match would actually be on the following Raw and not at SummerSlam. It was then presumed that Michaels would be Ziggler's opponent, but he denied it. Goldberg's music then played and he made his entrance, revealing that Ziggler would be facing Goldberg at SummerSlam, a man who Ziggler had also insulted in his promos against Michaels. Backstage during the July 23 episode of SmackDown, Charlotte Flair voiced her displeasure that she was not scheduled to compete at SummerSlam. Despite not scheduled for a match at SummerSlam, Flair stated that she would be there to prove that she was the "greatest female superstar of all-time". The following week, WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus was a guest on Jerry Lawler's "King's Court". They were interrupted by Flair, who challenged Stratus to a match at SummerSlam. After disparaging comments from Flair, Stratus accepted the challenge. On the August 6 episode of 205 Live, Oney Lorcan won a six-pack challenge, defeating Akira Tozawa, Ariya Daivari, Gentleman Jack Gallagher, Kalisto, and Tony Nese, to earn the right to face Drew Gulak for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship at SummerSlam. Aftermath Raw Seth Rollins would thank the crowd for their tremendous support at SummerSlam before being interrupted by AJ Styles and The O.C., who claimed that he was the better champion over Rollins. This would lead to a champion vs champion match in the main event. The bout ended in a disqualification by Gallows and Anderson before Ricochet and Braun Strowman made the save. Matches Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * SummerSlam Category:SummerSlam Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2019 Pay-Per-View Events